


Lessons in Bounty Hunting

by horsefeathers, snowflake123



Category: Original Work
Genre: Death Threats, F/F, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Magic, Mild Language, Minor Character Death, No Fandom - Freeform, Old West, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Poisoning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-01-12 16:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1192758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horsefeathers/pseuds/horsefeathers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowflake123/pseuds/snowflake123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a hard life for a bounty hunter in the Old West. Especially for a woman. Though she's good at her job, Tyera's father still worries about her. But one day, a mysterious young woman runs into her, (Quite literally.) and well, there's many things about her that just don't add up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Unfinished Work, patience is required.

The saloon where she was sitting smelled strongly of alcohol, the sound of the piano playing faintly drowned out the chatter of the other people around. Tyera had a white long sleeved shirt tucked into light brown pants. She wore a tan pair of one inch heeled boots. She had a brown leather belt, and weathered vest. Her tan hat rested on the bar, her short brown hair tucked behind her ear and her soft brown eyes were cast down. She had just returned from the sheriff's office picking up her reward, and now she was getting a quick drink before heading back to her cabin 3 miles out of town. She was quietly thinking to herself when a man sat down next to her at the bar.

"Bounty hunting ain't for no pretty lady like you." He said

"Well, its a good thing I'm not a lady then." Was her curt response.

Tyera finished her drink then stood up. "Have a nice day." She said sarcastically, then walked out of the saloon. His unwanted flirting had left a sour taste in her mouth. Or maybe it was just the whiskey. She checked her saddlebags and girth, and was just about to swing aboard her horse when she was run into from behind.

"Hey!" She turned around to see who hit her. A young woman, about her age of 23, was looking at her with wide eyes.

"Sorry!" She quickly apologized, then took off again down the dirt road.

"That was weird." Tyera muttered to herself, but quickly shook it off before mounting her horse

The cabin where she lived was south of town. It was a small, two story home that sat on an acre of land, and it had a small stable next to it. The people back in town had claimed that it was in the middle of nowhere, Tyera thought that if she was to live outside of town, here would be the right place to be. The area was peaceful, and quiet, complete bliss.


	2. A Stop at the Store

A few days had passed, and Tyera had to make a supply run. After she had got into town, and dismounted her horse, she saw the same young woman again. She had dark blue jeans and black scuffed up boots with a gray button up shirt and a dark jean jacket. Her long swept back raven black hair waved in the slight breeze and a black cowboy hat hung from her neck. Taking a chance, Tyera called out to her.

"Hey!"

The woman turned to look at her. Her piercing green eyes held a hidden intelligence. Tyera moved quickly to try and talk to her. Once she was close enough, Tyera started talking.

"Hey, haven't seen you in awhile."

The woman seemed a little fidgety, Tyera noticed and asked her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, fine. I have to go, I can't stay and talk."

Before Tyera could say anything, the young woman took off. She seemed to have a type of accent, one she coudn't quite place. She could almost mistake it for British, but her vowels were more of a sing- song type, scaling up and down. Tyera frowned a little, then shrugged and headed to the general store. The owner of the store stood behind the counter, he had graying hair, and looked to be in his sixties. He looked up when Tyera walked in, and a smile formed.

"Well if it isn't Tyera, how have you been?"

"Fine dad. How's business?"

"Slow as always. But its good to see you every now and then. Here for the usual things?"

"Yeah, and its good to see you too." Tyera gave him a warm smile, and he gave one back, trying to hide his concern with her line of work. He didn't approve of Tyera being a bounty hunter, but he supported her though.

After Tyera got the things she needed, she gave her dad an awkward hug goodbye over the counter, and left.

Tyera was putting her things into her saddlebags when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and saw two men standing at a respectable distance behind her. The man on her left nodded his head in greeting.

"Good day ma'am. We were wondering if you've seen a young woman go through here."

Tyera crossed her arms and retorted. "Well, you'll have to be more specific. I've seen dozens of young women go through this town."

The man started to tell her what the woman looked like, how tall she was, and so on. Tyera immediately knew whom he was talking about.

"Yeah I've seen her."

"Tell us where she went." Just by his tone alone told Tyera that they were up to no good. She was almost curious as to why they weren't on her bounty list.

"No." She said in a defensive manner.

The man sighed, and shook his head. "Even though we just met, I liked you. Now it'll be a shame to watch you get hurt."

Tyera gave him a raised eyebrow. "You don't know me then. I deal with whatever you're threatening almost everyday."

"Is that a challenge?"

Tyera smirked, then kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. "Yes, it's a challenge." She answered.

Just as she answered, another man came up behind her and tightly held a cloth over her mouth. She struggled against him, but she slowly became weaker, and weaker until she couldn't keep herself upright. After a few minutes struggle, Tyera blacked out.

******

Hours later, Tyera came around, sitting upright with her hands bound behind her. She tried to make sense of what was around her through blurred vision. Eventually, things came into focus, and the same man she had been talking to earlier was standing in front of her.

"Hello again. We just have a few questions to ask you." His smile made Tyera's stomach turn a little.

"We?" She questioned.

"Yes, we. Me and my men, we're looking for someone."

"Yeah that woman you described to me, but why?"

"Our reasons are none of your business. She's dangerous." He answered.

"It is if you involve me. And she didn't look dangerous to me, just nervous." She retorted.

"Silence!" He ordered, hitting her across the face jerking Tyera's head to the side slightly. The pain burned like sharp needles piercing through her skin, and Tyera fought the urge to cry out in pain.

"Only assholes hit girls." She said through gritted teeth, her head hanging down. The man grabbed a fist full of her hair, jerking her head up to look at him.

"I'm not scared to hit a girl." He told her in an angry tone. "Now tell me where she went."

"I don't know, even if I did I sure as hell wouldn't tell you. You're just a sad, pathetic bastard, who I hope makes my dead or alive bounty list."

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

Tyera smiled in slight pride, and fear. "That's an impossible task. And you're not me, so fuck off."

The man only glared at her, still clutching her hair. He let go and walked to the other side of the room to leave, the sound of his boots and spurs echoed through the room. As he closed the door behind him, he called over his shoulder.

"Enjoy your stay here." He laughed evilly, locking the door behind him.

After days of constant torture and questioning, Tyera was broken and bruised. The man she had talked to didn't do the questioning himself, he had others to do that for him. When Tyera was near the end of her ropes, one of the questioners had come in and asked the same thing the others had asked several times over.

"Where's the woman we're after?"

Tyera spit out blood, then looked up at him and answered. "Fuck you." Her response got her a hit on the side of her head, she shook from head to toe. "I've told you guys many times over, I don't know."

The questioner eventually grew tired of the same response and left. Tyera breathed heavily, still shaking from blood loss and sleepless nights. Moments after the questioner left, Tyera heard the door unlock and a young woman entered the room. She looked a bit skittish, but pushed through. She looked to Tyera and told her.

"I'm Nevaeh and I'm here to help you."

Tyera looked up at her, noticing the slight rolling of her r's.

"Bullshit."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I've been beaten by men _and_ women who are after you over the past couple of days."

"Trust me, I'm here to get you out."

Before Tyera had time to make a retort, Nevaeh held a finger to her lips.

"Sh."

Tyera's mouth immediately clamped shut, and Nevaeh untied the ropes. Tyera whimpered slightly as Nevaeh helped her. Everything hurt too much, and it felt like she was being hit with more force than her questioners. With slow and steady progress, the two of them made it away from the people after Nevaeh.

They eventually reached an empty barn and camped for the night there. Tyera sat down on a bale of straw and watched Nevaeh carefully. Once the two of them were settled, Tyera asked.

"Why did you come save me?"

Nevaeh was caught a little off guard by Tyera's question, but answered. "I could tell you have a good heart."

Tyera laughed. "Nevaeh, if you knew my intentions for people, you wouldn't think I have a good heart."

"What do you mean?"

Tyera tried to sit up a bit, and bit back a groan of pain. "I use people. I don't care if they live or die. As long as I get my job done, I don't care about that person." Tyera groaned a little in pain. "I hope they make my bounty list for dead men."

"You're a bounty hunter?"

"It's how I get my pay."

"That's different."

Tyera shrugged then winced. "It's a living. I think we should get some sleep, we'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Nevaeh nodded. "Right."

An hour had passed, Tyera was already asleep, but Nevaeh was still awake. She could hear Tyera's shallow breaths, she could only imagine what those people did to Tyera, and how much pain she was in. After a few moments of thought, Nevaeh got up and went over to Tyera. Nevaeh carefully placed a hand on her shoulder, Tyera flinched slightly, then relaxed again. After the little scare, Nevaeh let out a quiet breath and focused.

The next morning, Tyera sat up and noticed all the pain she felt the day before, was gone. Her eyebrows furrowed as she said.

"That's strange."

"What?"

"Everything doesn't feel sore anymore."

Nevaeh didn't say anything in response, Tyera just shrugged it off and the two of them headed off.

“So? Where are you from Nevaeh?” Tyera asked as they walked.  
  
Nevaeh seemed hesitant to answer. “Um, that’s a little personal, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I was born here but my parents were Welsh.”  
  
“Were?” Tyera was concerned.  
  
“Yes. They’re, uh, they’re dead. Both of them.”  
  
“Oh.” Tyera got quiet. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay.” They walked most of the way back to town in silence until Tyera stopped her right on the edge of town. “Sorry.” She stood in front of Nevaeh, blocking her path. "But I need some answers. Who were those people?”  
  
She glanced down at the hard packed dirt ground and sighed. “They told you I was dangerous, didn’t they? I suppose, from their point of view, I am. They killed my parents.”  
  
“Why do they think you’re dangerous?”  
  
Nevaeh grimaced. “Can I trust you?” She seemed that she was more talking to herself than to Tyera. She stopped and stared at her, seeming to calculate everything she was seeing. She searched Tyera’s eyes, making Tyera slightly uncomfortable. Then, she stopped, stepped back, and nodded to herself, smiling.  
  
“I suppose you deserve to know, but not here. Follow me.” Nevaeh began to walk into town, but turned suddenly, instead heading for an abandoned barn on the outskirts. Tyera had mixed feelings about following her. She wasn’t quite sure what she was going to find but her curiosity got the better of her and she followed anyway.  
  
The wooden planks holding the barn up were faded and weathered to say the least, but the craftsmen that had assembled them had made it to last, even the most sketchy looking boards stood tight in the slight breeze. When she squeezed through the stationary door and turned to face the inside of the barn, Nevaeh was perched on a bale of straw, waiting. Her head was turned towards the window, away from Tyera. She whispered something quietly.  
  
“What did you say?” Tyera couldn’t understand her.  
  
“I said, can I trust you?” She still didn’t turn around to face her.  
  
“I’m not sure you’ll want to.” Tyera tried to answer her truthfully, though her curiosity was threatening to get the better of her.

Nevaeh sighed. “You know, you’re not exactly making this easy for me. I’ve never shared this with anyone before. Family secrets, you know. But again, you deserve to know.”  
  
“Family secrets?” Tyera inched closer.  
  
“Yes, my parents had it too. And their parents before them, and on and on and on.” Finally, she turned to stare into Tyera’s eyes, that uncomfortable stare; the one made Tyera feel as if her very soul was bared in front of her. Nevaeh swung her legs around. “Weren’t you wondering where all of the pain went?”  
  
Tyera furrowed her eyes. “What? I don’t understand. That was you?”  
  
“There are a lot of things people don’t understand about me. They say I’m dangerous, well… I suppose I could be, but then again, can’t anyone?” She paused. “I’ll show you my secret, but that is what it must remain, a secret. Can you promise me this?”  
  
Tyera found herself nodding. Slowly, but truthfully. No matter what, she thought to herself, she would keep this woman’s secret. She didn’t know why, but for once in her life, she promised.  
  
“Alright.” Nevaeh smiled. “Sit over here.” She gestured to the bale where she was sitting just as she jumped off. “Oh,” She added, turning towards Tyera after she had sat down. “And please don’t freak out.”  
  
“What?” Tyera managed to say before Nevaeh slowly closed her hands together and they began to produce a warm glow.  
  
“What the hell is that?!” Tyera shouted.  
  
“Sh.” Nevaeh scolded her. “I’m concentrating. And I warned you not to freak out.” Finally, she opened her hands to reveal a small bright flame, burning with a mysterious light, floating on her left palm.  
  
“Are you a, a witch?” Tyera stammered.  
  
“I prefer the term ‘magically gifted’.”  
  
“Well,” She quickly tried to compose herself. “That’s new.”  
  
Tyera’s poorly hidden shock made Nevaeh laugh, breaking her concentration and extinguishing the flame. “You’re a first for me as well.”  
  
“Why’s that?” Tyera asked.  
  
Nevaeh’s smile vanished, “You didn’t say I was a monster.”  
  
“Of course not, that would be rude. And you don’t look like a monster to me. The men who took me were monsters. You’re just different, that doesn’t make you evil.”  
  
Nevaeh looked so happy Tyera thought she looked like she was going to cry, so she quickly changed the subject. “So, those men, they’re only after you because you have magic?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Well, that’s better than what I was imagining. Would you like some help?”  
  
“How so?”  
  
“Well, I know this fairly reasonable man in town who might be able to hook you up with a horse. That is, assuming you know how to ride and I can find mine.”  
  
“That sounds splendid. There’s just one thing.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Nevaeh grimaced. “I don’t have any money."


	3. Lullaby

“What? You don’t have any money?” Tyera exclaimed.  
  
“I’ve been on my own since I was ten. No, I don’t have any money.”  
  
“Fine, I’ll take care of it.”  
  
“No, that’s fine, I can find a way without you having to pay for it.”  
  
“How?”  
  
“I don’t know, I’ll think of something.”  
  
“Well that’s reassuring.”

They took the back way into town instead of walking in through the main street, where everyone could see them. Soon, they reached the horse salesman’s stables on the other side of the relatively small town. Passing the seemingly empty corral, Tyera caught Nevaeh out of the corner of her eye, spying the one lone strawberry roan on the far end of the pasture. And it was eyeing her. But Nevaeh quickly broke her attention and turned back towards the stable where they were heading. Clinking sounds were coming from inside, which could have been one of two people. The horse salesman, or his son. Turning inside, they saw the bent over form and dark auburn hair of the horse salesman. He was busy cleaning out one of his large black gelding’s hooves, but stopped what he was doing and set it down when he heard them come in. Turning, he smiled when he recognized Tyera.

“I thought you would be coming around here soon.” He said.

“Nice to see you too, Mr. Elder.” Tyera greeted him pleasantly. She turned, to where Nevaeh was waiting quietly. “Nevaeh, this is Mr. Elder, he’s been a family friend for as long as I can remember. He and my father were quite good friends when they were young.”  
  
Nevaeh stepped forwards. “Pleased to meet you Mr. Elder.” She said.  
  
“Ah,” He noticed. “You have quite a fascinating cadence there, my dear.”  
  
“Nevaeh is Welsh.” Tyera explained.  
  
He nodded, and grabbed a currycomb from off a stool and began brushing the gelding. “Ah, I remember now,” he said. “I found your horse tied up in town and asked your father where you might have gone off to. He claimed he had no clue. So, I offered to stable it until you got back. She’s in the last stall to the left.” He said, pointing down the aisle.  
  
“Oh.” Tyera remarked. “Well, thank you. That was very kind of you to do.” She began walking down, till she reached the stall where a brown head with a white blaze greeted her. “I'll pay for the expenses of course.” She looked back down towards him.  
  
“It’s quite all right dear, I know what your financial situation is right now.”  
  
Tyera frowned. “He told you didn’t he?”  
  
“You know us old men,” He smiled. “We love to gossip.”  
  
“No, I’ll pay you for it. I don’t need anyone thinking I can’t take care of myself.”  
  
He only nodded. “So Tyera, I know you didn’t just come here for your horse. What can I do you for?”  
  
“Excuse me.” Nevaeh interrupted. “But I couldn’t help noticing the red roan outside.”  
  
“Ah, yes.” He put down his brush. “That wild thing. I would love to sell her, but trouble is, I can’t seem to find anyone who can tame her. High spirited, that little filly is.”  
  
“I can tame her.” Nevaeh said confidently.  
  
He gave a half-hearted chuckle. “Darling, if you can tame that wild beast, you can have her.”  
  
Nevaeh smiled. “Okay.”  
  
Tyera had been watching this unfold the entire time, and when she had heard Nevaeh say she could tame the horse, she almost didn’t believe her ears. She knew Nevaeh had magic, but she had also heard about Mr. Elder’s filly. She had thrown grown men who were either brave or dumb enough to climb onto her back. She hadn’t even been saddled before!  
  
“Nevaeh.” She grasped her friend’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to do this?”  
  
“Yes.” She said, turning those piercing green eyes towards her once again. “I can do this.”  
  
Nevaeh borrowed a halter from Mr. Elder and, with Tyera watching nervously from the fence, stepped through the gate and into the corral. Slowly, she strode softly across the windswept grassland. The mare had her head down, grazing, but it flew up when she heard Nevaeh coming, her nostrils flaring at the scent carried by the breeze. The mare’s muscles were tense, preparing to flee at any second. Nevaeh saw this and stopped, only a few yards away from the burnt red mare. Tyera was biting her lip, expecting failure at any second, and that’s when she heard it. The soft notes carried across the wind, the haunting melody. It was coming from Nevaeh. The words were unknown to her, but carried a strange power, an ancient power that calmed her frantically beating heart. Nevaeh's voice was soft but clear, the calmness Tyera felt could be seen slowly taking the same effect on the tense mare. Her song sang:  
  
_Huna blentyn, yn fy mynwes_  
_Clyd a chynnes, ydyw hon_  
_Breichiau mam sy’n, dyn am danat_  
_Cariad mam sy, dan fy mron_  
  
The mare slowly relaxed, and Nevaeh took a step closer. When the mare still didn’t react, Nevaeh came a bit closer. Suddenly, the mare shied and her head snapped up, fear and wildness once again widening her eyes. Nevaeh began to sing again, coming closer as she did once the mare had calmed down again.  
  
_Ni cha dim, amharu’th gyntun_  
_Ni wna undyn a thi gam_  
_Huna’n dawel, anwyl blentyn_  
_Huna’n fwyn ar fron dy fam_  
   
By the last word, Nevaeh had gotten the halter up and over the horse's head and secured on. Slowly she led her over to where Tyera and Mr. Elder were waiting, humming the song all the way. When she reached them, she looked surprised by their bewildered faces.  
  
“How did you do that?” Mr. Elder asked her.  
  
Nevaeh looked at him, then back to Tyera. “What?” She asked. “It’s just a lullaby.”


	4. The Red Mare

“A lullaby?”

“Yes, my mother used to sing it to me when I was little. She always told me I should sing it when I didn’t know what to do or I was scared. It always calmed me down so I gave it a shot.”

“You gave it shot? That’s it?”

“What? Were you expecting?” A little bit quieter so only Tyera could hear. “Magic?”

“Well, yeah. I guess I was.”

“They’re just words Tyera, but I suppose they do carry a little old magic. Everything does. It just depends on how you say it.”

For once, Tyera didn’t have an answer.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Mr. Elder had walked over. They looked over to where he was. “Young lady, it seems you’ve proven me wrong.” He smiled. “The horse is yours.”

Nevaeh smiled back. Tyera hadn’t seen her smile yet and was surprised by how much warmth she emanated. “Well,” She said. “Seems you’ll need some tack.”

“Oh.” Nevaeh's smile vanished. “I hadn’t thought of that. Seems I don’t know much about this.” She sighed.

“Well, that’s quite alright.” Mr. Elder provided. “As it happens, I have an older saddle that’s in fairly good condition. I can sell it to you quite cheap. I certainly don’t need it anymore.”

Tyera had to break in. “Um, she doesn’t have any money, but I can pay for her. Do you happen to have any bridles you're willing to part with as well?”

“Let me check the storeroom.” He headed back towards the barn, leaving Tyera standing there with Nevaeh and Nevaeh holding her mare, which was beginning to get a bit uppity again. “Sh.” She said, stroking the mare’s nose and whispering something to her.

“So, what are you going to name her?” Tyera asked.

“Ummm…” Nevaeh thought, still petting the horse. “I think, _Drysor_.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Gem, or jewel.”

“I get it, cause the horse is red, like a ruby.”

Nevaeh nodded. Drysor nickered and bobbed her head up and down. “She likes it.” She smiled.

Mr. Elder came back, carrying a beat-up brown leather saddle, blanket and soft brown western bridle. “Found ‘em.” He said.

Tyera stepped forwards. “How much?”

“For you?” He thought to himself. “Well, how’s 30?”

Tyera looked so surprised Nevaeh thought her mouth was going to fall open. “30? Only 30, for everything?”

“Well, yes. Is that too much?” He looked concerned.

“No, of course not.” Tyera tried to get over her shock. “Thank you. I’ll be right back, my money was in my saddlebags.”

“I put your tack in the stall next to your horse.” Mr. Elder said.

After Tyera had started off towards the barn, he turned to Nevaeh. “I can help you get saddled up.” He offered.

“Thanks.” Nevaeh smiled.

He sat the saddle down on the ground and draped the bridle over it. He moved towards Drysor with the blanket, but the mare shied away from him. “Hm.” He said. “Seems she still doesn’t trust me.”

“Here, let me try.” Nevaeh dropped the lead rope and held out her hands for the saddle blanket.

“Hey.” He said. “Don’t let go-” He cut himself short when the mare didn’t budge one inch away from where Neveah had left her. “Well, that’s interesting.”

Nevaeh shrugged and he laid the blanket in her arms. She turned to her horse and hovered over her back. “Where do I put it?” She asked.

“Up here.” He said, moving over. Her horse tried to move again, but Nevaeh reached one hand down to stroke her. “It’s okay.” She said, consoling her. To calm Drysor even more, she began to hum the lullaby again.

“Okay, so set the top up here by the withers.” He motioned. Nevaeh did as he said and set the blanket on. Then, she slowly tacked up the rest of the gear with his help. They were almost done when Tyera came out of the stable, leading her fully tacked bay next to her.

“What you doin’?” She asked them.

“Mr. Elder is just helping me tack up.” Nevaeh called over to her as she cinched the girth. Then, she gripped the reins and patted Drysor, leading her over to where Tyera was standing.

Tyera stopped her horse and began rummaging through the saddlebags and Mr. Elder followed Neveah over to Tyera. Finally, Tyera produced a tan envelope from which she pulled out 30 dollars plus 100 for stabling costs. She handed them to Mr. Elder. “There you go. Thank you for taking care of my horse while I was away.”

“Where were you anyway?” He asked, curious.

Tyera winced. “It’s not really important, work things. We should probably get going anyway.”

“You know, your father does talk to me every once and a while. He worries about you.”

“I know. I’m fine, you can tell him that.”

He sighed. “Okay.” Quickly he recovered. “Well, I guess you should get going then, you said you were busy.”

“Yeah, have to keep looking for jobs. Not a cheap lifestyle.”

He smiled as Tyera turned and stepped into her stirrups, pulling herself up into her saddle. “Come on Nevaeh, let’s go. Just do it the way I did.”

Nevaeh nodded and stepped up into the saddle with little to no difficulties. “That wasn’t too hard.”

Tyera wheeled her horse around and trotted a short ways towards the road. “It was nice seeing you again.” She said to Mr. Elder, “Come on Neveah, let’s go.”

Nevaeh nodded, and slowly steered Drysor in the direction of where Tyera had headed. “Thank you for your help Mr. Elder. It was very nice to meet you.”

He nodded, and watched them head off towards the center of town.


	5. About a Job

Nevaeh steered her horse and trotted up to Tyera’s bay. “So, where are we heading?”

“I’m going to see the sheriff about a job. I need some more money to get by, the people who took me took the money I had on me, and I just spent most of the reserve I had in the saddlebags on your tack.”

Nevaeh shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I’m just worried about…” She paused. “You know who.”

“What?” Tyera turned to her. “You think they’re still following us?”

“Us?” Nevaeh looked confused. “What would they want you for? Asides from you’re my friend?”

“Friend? You’re already my friend?”

“Well, yeah. I figured after everything you did for me, and the fact that I told you my secret. I could call you my friend. Is that alright with you?”

Tyera was slightly surprised. “Oh. Okay.” She sunk back into the saddle. “That’s fine with me. I mean, I’ve never really had a friend since I was little.”

Nevaeh nodded. “Okay.” She said quietly.

It wasn’t long after that they rode up to the sheriff’s office. Tyera swung off her dark bay and quickly tied her reins to the hitching post. “Why don’t you wait out here?” She said, after Nevaeh had dismounted as well. “I’ll only be a few minutes.” Then she thumped up the stairs and into the weathered wooden building. Neveah moved around to the right side of Drysor. Gently, she stroked her nose, then leaned up against the hitching post and waited.

The old building was fairly cool and the old plank floor was worn smooth by the constant shuffling of feet moving in and out. Tyera gazed around the room and couldn’t see anyone in the room, but could hear the moving of boots in the back room near the holding cells, so she waited. It wasn’t long until the sheriff, an older man, about in his late thirties with light brown hair and tough, hazel eyes came sauntering out of the back. The minute he came around the corner he noticed Tyera sitting in the chair opposite his desk.

“Why hello Tyera.” He remarked, sounding only the least bit surprised.

“What? Are you surprised to see me?” She asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.

“Well, I haven’t exactly seen you in a while. You’ve been gone for days. Where were you anyway?”

“If I had a dollar for ever time someone had asked me that today…” Tyera stood, moving over to where he was standing. “I came to see if you had any new jobs in for me, I’m running a little low on money at the time and I’ll take anything you’ve got.”

“Well…” He sidled past her and walked over to his desk, his boots clunking against the floor. He sunk into his chair and began ruffling through the papers scattered on it. “We didn’t have much that last couple a days, just your usual bar brawl and minor dispute. Fairly quiet, surprisingly.” He sighed.

Tyera almost sighed in response, but caught herself at the last second. “Well that’s a bust.” She said. Then she thought to herself for a second before asking. “How ‘bout anyone new coming into town in the past week?”

He looked up, surprised. “Now why would you want to know that?” He stopped before saying anything more and waved it off before looking back down at the papers. “Never mind, I don’t even want to know.” After shuffling through the papers, he carefully stacked them, thinking. “You know,” He interjected the silence. “I do think that two men came into town around yesterday afternoon. Big, tough looking guys.”

“And you didn’t stop them?” Tyera’s eyes widened.

“Well, they didn’t exactly do anything wrong. Tyera, I can’t just arrest someone for standing around.”

Tyera made a face, feeling slightly embarrassed at her childish outburst. “I know, I know…” she turned around, her arms crossed. None of them said anything for what seemed a whole minute. Suddenly, she turned around quick. “What did they want anyway?” She asked, curious.

“Jay said they wanted to know the train schedule.”

“The train schedule?”

“Yes.”

Tyera frowned. It didn’t make sense. Perhaps they were just passers through. “Well I better get going, let my dad know if you have anything for me, he’ll pass it on.” Tyera turned on her heels and her boots clunked on the wood. She was thinking quietly to herself as she walked outside.

“Nevaeh, let’s get going-” She stopped short.

Nevaeh's horse had disappeared and Nevaeh herself was nowhere to be seen.

****** 

Nevaeh had her eyes closed, listening to the sound of the slight wind. A small smile slowly formed on her lips. Deep breaths relaxed her with each in and out, putting her in perfect balance and calm, shutting out the hustle and bustle of the small town. Only natural sounds bleed through the perfect silence. Slowly, her mind began to travel to the place she loved to go, back in time.

_A warm breeze rustled her crisp white dress, spiraling her raven black hair in the wind. She smiled at the memory. She was eight years old, and she was sitting on the top of the hill above her parents’ house. She had been born in that cabin, and grew up on this plain, a place the people around there called the Oklahoma territory. Her parents had fled from Wales around two years before she was born, and they still had not told her why. They said they would on her tenth birthday. When she would understand. For the time being, her mother had been schooling her in controlling her powers. They had begun developing around her fifth birthday, and at first they had scared her. They were spontaneous, showing up most of the time when she felt strong emotions, sometimes with drastic consequences. Just earlier that morning, she had lost one of her favorite toys and the frustration had built and built until she couldn’t control it anymore. She screamed in frustration and slammed her foot down onto the plank floor. It split in a long jagged crack stretching about a foot long. She gasped, jumping back and staring down in horror at the mess she had made. Her mother came running in._

_“Nevaeh! Are you alright!” She swung around the corner, and stopped when she saw the crevice in the floor. “Oh dear.” She stepped over and squatted down in front of her. Neveah was still cowering in the corner of her small room. “It’s alright dear,” She said, the same raven black locks cascading down to her shoulders, and the same piercing green eyes gazing into hers. “This is perfectly normal for you to feel until you learn to control it.”_

_“I’m sorry mummy.” Nevaeh said quietly._

_“I told you, it’s alright.” She smiled. “I can fix it easily. Look.” She turned and waved her hand towards the crack, and it quickly repaired itself. “See?” She said._

_A smile slowly took the place of Nevaeh’s shocked expression. She flung herself around her mother’s shoulders and her mother wrapped her arms around her in turn. Once Nevaeh had pulled away, her mother reached into the folds of her apron and wrapped her hand around something. “Close your eyes dear, I have something for you.”_

_Nevaeh gasped in happiness and quickly squeezed her eyes shut._

_“No peeking.” She heard her mother say. She nodded._

_The rustling of fabric told her that something was being taken out. Then, her hands were being lifted, and something cold and metallic along with a cord was being slipped into them._

_“Okay. You can open now.” She said._

_Nevaeh slowly opened her eyes, and gazed at the pendant in her hands. “What is it?” she asked with her childish curiosity._

_“It’s to help you channel your magic. An old Celtic symbol, the triad brings magical inspiration.” Her mother smiled, and picked up the necklace before slipping it around her neck._ _“It’ll always be there to help you, as will I.”_

 

A nudge snapped her out of it. She opened her eyes and sighed. She wished she could’ve stayed back in the past forever. Though, there were things she wished she couldn’t remember sometimes. Drysor was the one who had nudged her, and the mare nickered to her trying to get her attention.

“I know.” Nevaeh stroked her nose and worked her way down the strawberry roan coat of her neck. She sighed and buried her face in the coarse fur. “I miss them so much sometimes.”

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a man standing behind her. He had dark eyes and an even darker expression. The man who had tapped Neveah’s shoulder had dirty blond hair peeking out of his brown cowboy hat.

“Excuse me.” The blond man said. “I was wondering if you could tell me where the post office is?”

Nevaeh gave him a confused look. “I’m sorry, I’m not from around here, I can’t tell you.” He nodded. Then he stepped a bit closer, causing Nevaeh to back up a few steps, which put her out of sight of any of the people on the street.

Her adrenaline suddenly spiked. She could tell he was up to no good, but wasn’t able to react fast enough before a gloved hand was slammed over her mouth from behind. She tried to struggle, but a strong arm had wrapped itself around her and held her tight, dragging her backwards, further away from where they could be seen or heard. The dirty blond man followed, and, reaching towards her ripped her necklace off from around her neck.

“You won’t be needing that, now will you.” He said, smiling menacingly. Neveah tried to turn her head to see who was holding her captive, but his grip was too strong for her to turn very far. Panicking, she beat her legs backwards, trying to pummel the man with her boots and reaching up as far as she could with her hands, trying to peel his hand off her mouth, but to no avail.

They stopped behind the building and the blond reached into his pocket, producing what seemed to be iron hand cuffs.

“Now, don’t try anything, I don’t want to hurt you. The boss clearly said he didn’t want a mark on you until he could get to you himself.”

Nevaeh was so frightened she almost didn’t hear what he had said, so when he reached out and grabbed her wrist, she squirmed as much as she could to try and get away. He twisted her wrist to get her to stop, and she emitted a muffled whimper at the pain. Snapping the cuff around, he fastened it and reached around her back to grab the other one. The man holding her had released his grip a little and Nevaeh lunged, trying to free herself. But she had forgot that the other man still had a hold of the cuffs that had her right wrist, and the jerk pulled her backwards. Quickly, he snapped the other cuff around her left wrist, binding her hands behind her. A gag was quickly stuffed in her mouth and tied behind her head, pulling some of her hair in the process.

She had caught a glimpse of the man who had been holding her. His dark hair was stuffed under a hat not much different than his friend’s, and his dark eyes were cold and unfeeling. “Let’s go.” Said the first man, and the brown haired one lifted her up carried her to a waiting horse, which he slung her over the back of before tying her feet so she couldn’t kick. From what she could hear and see from her view, the first man was walking around the horse to her side, where he bent down and shoved a cloth over her mouth and nose, forcing her to breath in. The world slowly began to spin and that last thing she remembered was a blanket being tossed over her and the world descending into darkness.


	6. Fool's Parsley

Tyera tugged her horse to a halt outside the train station before swinging off not even before her horse had completely stopped. She ran up to the platform, her stomach dropping when there was no sign of the train anywhere. The clock at the train station read 12:20. Five minutes, that was it. She was five minutes late. But she wouldn’t allow herself to give up just yet, rushing inside the depot, she quickly scanned around for the train schedule. The next town on the line was 12 miles away, and there was another in between where the steam engine had to stop for fuel. If she could just bypass the fuel stop, she could probably make it on time. Not about to waste any more time, she hurried back outside and climbed onto her horse, turning them east before urging her into a gallop.

She was on high alert, listening to everything around her. The train had stopped somewhere along the way for around what she thought was ten minutes before jerking away once again. Neveah couldn’t get rid of the pit deep in her stomach that was making her feel sick. No one is ever going to find me again, she thought. All of the sudden, hundreds of nasty things were swirling around in her head.

 _“I should never have let my guard down. Why did I stop running? I should have left Tyera there instead of going back for her.”_ The last one hit her like a brick. “No!” She thought. “It’s my fault she got into this in the first place.”

_“But now you’re going to die, just like your parents.”_

Her heart sank.

_“It’s your fault they’re dead too.”_

“No! Stop!” She tried to scream, desperately shoving the memory back. Nevaeh squeezed her eyes shut; a trickle of wetness working it’s way down her cheek. “No.” She said, muffled by the cloth. “No.” The wave subsided, and she tipped her head back, resting it on the back of the chair, again listening to the rumble of the train on the tracks, taking her further and further away.

The time slowly dragged on, and she slowly fell into a kind of numbness, staring at the wooden panels that made up the top of the boxcar. The screeching of brakes snapped her out of it. She had no idea if this was another pit stop, or if they had reached their destination. She was given her answer not long after when she heard the scraping of a key in the lock and saw the door sliding open. The two men that had kidnapped her entered the room, followed by the third that had threatened her earlier. The two that had entered before began to untie her until the third turned to someone she couldn’t see right outside the door. There was the exchange of words until the third man nodded and turned to the two standing beside Nevaeh. “Change in plans boys, we have a visitor. Go get the stuff.”

As one of them left, confusion set in. Nevaeh stared at the man, wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry dear,” He said. “If everything goes right, you’ll be just fine.”

Tyera had arrived at the train station just as sweaty and exhausted as her mount. A thin layer of dust had settled on both of them. Wobbly- legged, she slowly slid off her horse and secured it to the hitching post where a water trough sat. Looking at the station clock she sighed. She had made it. The train was only three to four minutes away, enough time for her to get a drink of water and rest while thinking up a plan. Whatever happens, she promised herself, I’m not going to let them hurt her.

It didn’t take long for the man to return, carrying a cask of water. The third man stepped over to Nevaeh and reached down to untie her gag. “Now,” He said, “I’m going to take this off, but don’t you make a sound, you hear?”

Fat chance, Nevaeh thought to herself.

Just as the gag was out of her mouth Nevaeh screamed, ignoring what the man had said. In anger, he backhanded her hard across the face, leaving a stinging red mark.

“Now I told you not to do that.” He growled. “Hold her head back.” He told the other man standing behind her. The man took a fistful of the hair and forced it back while the third man grabbed Neveah’s face and forced her mouth open, gesturing for the cask of water. Nevaeh struggled and tried to close her mouth, but the man had such a strong grip that she couldn’t. Slowly, the man poured the nasty tasting liquid into her mouth and shoved it closed before she could cough it up, covering her mouth and nose.

“Swallow it.” He growled. His hand was cutting off her air, so she swallowed. As soon as she did they let go, leaving her gasping for air before the gag was once again shoved in her mouth and secured. The two men quickly untied her, leaving only the iron cuffs binding her hands together. One man grabbed each of her arms and jerked her up and towards the door of the train car. Nevaeh kicked out with her unbound legs and struggled with all her might. No matter what, she wasn’t going down without a fight. The two men were doing their best to control her when an angry voice from behind stopped them in their tracks.

“Hey!”

Nevaeh turned her neck as much as she could to see, even though she could tell from their voice. Tyera stood with her Colt drawn and a very pissed off look on her face. “Let my friend go.” She said, the absolute coldness of her profession cutting through. The third man had been in front of Neveah, but now circled around to face the very angry Tyera.

“There’s no reason to get all riled up young lady.” He tried to calm her.

“I’m. Not. A. Lady.” Tyera forced each word through gritted teeth. She changed aims and unloaded her bullet into the man’s kneecap. He yelped in pain and crumpled to the ground.

“You bitch!” He screamed.

“I know.” She said. Looking up at the two men that still had a hold of Neveah, she gave them a cold stare. “Now, like I said, let my friend go. I still have plenty of bullets left for you.”

They must have been cowards, because they didn’t miss a beat before unceremoniously dropping Neveah to the ground and running. Once Tyera was sure they were gone, she lowered her weapon and made a wide circle around the man who was still lying on the ground and holding his knee in pain. She walked quickly to where Nevaeh was kneeling on the ground and sank down next to her. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” She said after removing the gag around Nevaeh’s mouth and picking the cuffs around Neveah’s wrists. Nevaeh nodded. Tyera stood and walked over to the man. “You should never mess with the people I care about.” She said.

“It doesn’t matter.” He smiled coldly. “You’re too late. If we can’t have her, no one can.”

Tyera growled and pulled her pistol. But instead of shooting him like she was thinking, she hit him across the head with it, rendering him into a heap on the ground. “I’ll leave you for the sheriff to take care of.” She punctuated, snapping the iron cuffs around his wrists. Then she hurried over to Nevaeh, who was slowly getting up.

“Are you okay?” Tyera questioned her, trying to keep herself calm.

Nevaeh nodded, though she was looking a little pale. “I think so.” She said, but paused for a second, looking confused. “I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean you’re not sure?”

Suddenly, Nevaeh grabbed her arm with shaking hands. “Oh no.” She said.

“What’s wrong?" Tyera shifted her weight to support her, now that most of Nevaeh’s weight was leaning on her.

Nevaeh reached towards her own left arm, placing two of her fingers on her wrist. Her face fell. “No, no, no, no…” She mumbled to herself.

“Nevaeh, tell me what’s wrong!” Tyera raised her voice, trying to get her to answer. Instead, Neveah gripped both of Tyera’s arms, looking her straight in the eyes.

“Tell me,” She said, her voice shaking as well as the rest of her. “Are my eyes dilated?”

“What?”

“My pupils, are they bigger?”

Tyera narrowed her eyes, peering at Nevaeh’s. They had indeed enlarged significantly. “Yes.” She said.

“Shit.” Nevaeh mumbled, saying something else to herself.

“What did you say?"

Nevaeh spoke up. “Hemlock.”

Tyera was very nervous now. “Hemlock?”

“That’s what he meant. Hemlock, it’s poison. I should’ve known they were up to something when they made me drink that stuff.”

“What do I do? Tell me, what do I do?”

“There’s no cure.”

“No, there has to be a way.”

“Let me finish. If you can get my necklace, I can reverse it, just like I healed you. But I don’t know where they put it. They took it from me the minute they grabbed me.”

“I’ll find it. But first, let’s get you inside.”

Nevaeh nodded. Tyera helped her inside and laid her down on a bench. She gestured to one of the railway attendants, a woman, and asked her to watch Nevaeh. Tyera began to walk away when a hand caught her arm. It was Nevaeh. She looked up at her with sad, scared eyes.

“Please Tyera, if you can’t find it-”

“I’ll find it.”

“No Tyera, if you can’t find it I have an hour, at least.”

Tyera gripped her hand. “I told you, I’ll find it.” She turned and walked out the door, fighting down her feeling of dread.

As she walked out to look for Nevaeh's necklace, not only was there a feeling of dread, but also of pure anger. Never had she felt like that before, not since she was younger.

First thing, she grabbed a bucket and dipped water out of the trough, stepped angrily towards the man she had knocked out, and proceeded to dump the contents onto his head. He came to with a start.

"What the hell?!" He screamed.

"Where is it?" She demanded.

"Where's what?!" He was still quite perturbed.

"My friend's necklace, I know you or one of your men still has it. Now spill, and I'll think about sparing your life."

"My life doesn't matter. I won't tell you, and she'll die like the witch she is. Granted, she doesn't deserve such an easy death." He smiled.

Tyera gave him a cold stare. Moving fast, she had him on his feet and tightly held his collar. "Tell me, now."

"She should burn."

"That's fighting words to me." Tyera tightened her grip, then quickly threw him to the ground as hard as she could. She flipped him to his other side and twisted his arm behind him. "Talk, or this arm becomes broken."

"Do you what you want." He grunted. "I won't tell."

"Fine, just know that the world of pain you're about to be in is your own damn fault." She hissed. Tyera then proceeded to twist his arm until she heard the satisfying snap of bone breaking and his screams of pain.

In between quick, pained breaths and gritted teeth he growled. "You're wasting your time. She'll be dead before you'll get anything from me."

"Well then I'll just have ask someone else. Or I can just search your pockets after breaking you even more."

"Take your time, you'll never find it."

"Ah come on be an optimist." Tyera said as she dug through his pockets. "Optimists are fun, they keep you on your toes." She moved from his pockets to a small bag lying near him. After a few minutes she found what she was looking for. "And look what I found." She tipped her hat as she started to walk off. "Pleasure doing business with you. I'll be back though, you're wanted alive in the next town."

He growled. "One of these days, you'll be too late, and I wish I could be there to see your face when you find her dead on the ground. Just you wait."

She looked back at him. "I'm never late, I never miss a beat and the day I'm late is the day you die."

"Never said it would be me."

"I know."

He smirked.

"You know, lying pieces of shit like you are worth more if you're dead. I just might consider." Tyera said as she walked back to Nevaeh inside the station.

Nevaeh didn't look very good. Her skin had started to acquire a bluish tint and Tyera could tell she was struggling for each breath. She rushed to her side and placed the necklace where it belonged. "Look what I found."

Nevaeh managed a weak smile. "I can't move." She whispered. "You'll have to put it in my hands and lay them on my chest."

Tyera nodded and carefully did as she said. "Hope this works."

Nevaeh bit her lip and closed her eyes. Then she whispered something strange. "Gyda swyn hwn rwyf wella fy hun." She repeated it, then again. The last time her entire body shuddered and she took a deep inhale. Her body relaxed and her head settled to the side.

Things took a moment to register before Tyera understood what was going on. Nevaeh had fallen into a deep sleep, her chest slowly rising and falling, her hands still clasped around her necklace.

"Okay, hopefully this is good." She stood up straight and talked to the person behind the ticket counter. "Excuse me, but can you tell me where the nearest town is? Please."

He looked confused but pointed east. "Two miles that way. Can't miss it."

Tyera nodded and gave him her thanks, then carefully lifted Nevaeh and headed straight for the town. When she arrived, dusty and tired, she eased Neveah off her horse and carried her inside the inn. Inside, she asked the woman at the desk.

"Hi, do you have any rooms available?" She tried her best at giving a warm smile.

"Yes, is everything okay?"

She pulled a face. "Don't know, I sure hope so." She looked down to Nevaeh then back up at the woman. "Thank you, for the room and your concern."

"Upstairs and to the right." The woman said, handing the key to Tyera. She nodded and repeated her thanks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, busy with so many other things. Also some shameful procrastination. :/


	7. The New Arrival

A soft, warm presence tickled the end of Neveah’s fingers, her arm was hanging off the edge of the bed, almost touching the floor as she slept. Her fingers twitched when she felt it, and it ran itself across once again. This time Nevaeh’s fingers curled to grasp at the fluff, and it pushed itself up into her hand. Nevaeh turned, and pulled her arm back up onto the bed. Suddenly, a soft weight had landed on the edge of the bed and slowly and carefully it made it’s way around Nevaeh and settled next to her on the bed, making quiet, contented noises.

******

When Tyera came in, she noticed a little black kitten settled next to Nevaeh, purring happily as it dozed. That's when Nevaeh came around. At first she was still pretty groggy, and took awhile before movement on the bed next to her alerted her to it's presence. The kitten purred, climbing up to lick her face. 

Tyera was a little confused and asked. "So, what's with the cat?"

Nevaeh pushed herself up and picked up the kitten, a smile on her face. "It's my familiar."

The kitten purred as Nevaeh nuzzled it before setting it back down on her lap. Since Tyera didn't know that much about magic, she asked.

"What's a familiar?"

The kitten meowed and Nevaeh turned to it. "Yeah, I'll tell her."

Tyera gave a confused look. "You can talk to it?"

"Of course I can, she's my familiar. And she has a name by the way."

"Sorry, what's her name?"

Nevaeh nodded. "It's Hanner Nos."

"Never heard a name like that before." Tyera looked down at Hanner Nos and smiled. "She's really cute."

Hanner Nos glanced over at Tyera and purred. "She likes you too." Nevaeh translated. "By the way, Hanner Nos, it's Welsh for Midnight."

"Cool, so how are you feeling?" There was slight concern in Tyera's tone.

"Slightly dizzy, but otherwise good."

The kitten jumped down off the bed and Neveah threw back the covers, swinging her legs over.

Tyera nodded. "You scared the shi-" She stopped catching herself. "Uh, crap out of me. But it's good to know you're okay now. Maybe you should take it easy for a bit."

"I've been taking it easy for over five hours. I think I'm good." Nevaeh stood up. "Though frankly, my clothes could use a wash."

Tyera pulled a face. "Not sure how to help you there."

"It'll only take me a minute." Nevaeh stepped into the other room, Hanner Nos tumbling behind her. About five to ten minutes later, she stepped out with her old clothes wrapped up in a bundle under her arm and a white Victorian collared long sleeved shirt tucked into a long black floor length skirt on. "All done." She announced.

Tyera frowned. "Should I ask what you did or how you did it?"

Nevaeh looked down at her clothes. "It was one of the first things my mother taught me how to do." She smiled. "Advanced weaving. All I needed was the pattern."

Tyera nodded slightly. "Okay I guess that answers both my questions. I guess those guys won't bother you anymore. You probably know why they won't, but you can ask if you'd like."

"I've got the idea." Nevaeh bent down and picked up Hanner Nos, who was pawing against her leg, and settled her on her shoulder. "Do you still want to know the purpose of familiars?" She asked Tyera.

"Loved to."

"They're for companionship and guidance. My mother and father had familiars while they were alive as well. My mother's was a black wolf, Lobos, my father's a black hawk, Avian. They're supposed to represent your soul and help you develop your magic. They are always the same gender as they're partner and live just as long."

"Oh, I don't think I ever saw Hanner Nos when we met up the first time."

"Your familiar finds you, when you are ready. Some with magic wait decades for their familiar to find them."

"Oh."

"Hanner Nos just happened to find me while I was sleeping. I guess I was ready." Nevaeh smiled and Hanner Nos purred, running her head along her cheek.

Tyera gave a sad smile. "Well, I have no doubt you guys will enjoy each others company."

"Wait Tyera, I didn't mean it that way. Hanner Nos is my partner. You are my friend. I owe you so much, you saved me. I know of many people who would've just left me there. Thank you."

"I know you didn't imply it like that. And it's kind of my job to track people down. It's just...talking about parents a little and all made me think of my mother." Tyera looked down, then laughed a little. "Oh look, I'm getting sad now."

"At least you have your father." Nevaeh looked down at her feet.

"Yeah." Tyera looked up at Neveah. "I rarely see him though. I haven't told you why I became a bounty hunter have I?"

"Going by the way you talk about your mother, I assume she died when you were young."

"Yeah, and a few years later I found the person who took her from me." Tyera had a cold look.

"I really don't want to know what happened to them." Nevaeh sat back down on the bed and her kitten crawled back down onto her lap. "I don't mean to be a whiner, but if we're talking about parents..." Nevaeh trailed off.

"It's fine, go ahead." Tyera gave her an assuring smile.

"Will you sit next to me?" She looked up towards Tyera.

"Um, sure."

Once Tyera was settled down on the bed next to her, Nevaeh began. "The men who kidnapped me, they have a leader."

"I think I might've met him. When he took me and beat me." Tyera frowned at the memory.

"I'm not sure. He never really likes to get his hands dirty. I've only seen him once. The day he had my parents killed." Nevaeh shut her eyes, her body trembling a little. Hanner Nos sensed her discomfort and nudged her head under her hand. Neveah slowly petted her, calming herself. "His face was emotionless. Even as they lay dying. I still have nightmares about that face."

Tyera placed a gentle hand on Nevaeh's shoulder.

She looked up at her, eyes glistening with the tears threatening to form. "Thanks." She said, then wiped her eyes. "But enough about me, I'm sure you've had enough of my blubbering."

Tyera smirked a little. "Please, I've seen women cry more than that. And it's fine, really it is."

Nevaeh smiled then picked up Hanner Nos and stood. "Um, could I have a second?" She asked Tyera. "I need to talk to my familiar for a minute, alone. Sorry."

Tyera waved it off. "That's fine, I'll just step out. Come out when you're done, I'm kind of running low on money so we'll have to leave."

Nevaeh nodded and sat back down on the bed. Tyera gave a quick smile and walked out.

Once she had gone, Nevaeh looked down at Hanner Nos. "So, what did you mean by that?" She asked. The familiar curled her tail around her paws and kneaded the mattress nervously. "Are you sure you want to try and find him?" She asked her. 

"I have to. I need answers." Neveah sighed.

"I understand." The cat purred.

Tyera patiently waited outside the room, leaning against the wall. She thought about how she would tell the sheriff about the wanted men. She figured she would say she just did her job. While she thought, the sound of a door opening caught her attention.

Nevaeh stepped out. "Should we get going now?" She asked. Hanner Nos was perched on her shoulder once again.

"Yeah we should. Do you have anywhere you'd like to go before I go and collect my payment back home?"

"I'm gonna need my horse. Lucky for you, I had the foresight to slip something on her saddle. She followed the train, should be near here by now."

"Oh, what's a foresight?"

"Um, I had a feeling that I might need her later." Nevaeh smiled. "That was my mom's specialty."

"Okay." There was slight confusion in Tyera's tone. "So where will you go now?"

She shrugged. "I guess, wherever you're going. If that's alright with you."

Tyera smiled and it grew as she spoke. "Yeah of course it is. I need to talk to the sheriff and collect my payment, and then I was going home."

"Then let's get going." Nevaeh began to make her way down the stairs.

"Hey wait." Tyera quickened her pace. "Maybe you should let me lead the way back. I've been back and forth this way several times."

"All right. But I still need my horse."

"By all means we will be riding horseback. Never trusted the trains anyway."

Nevaeh grimaced. "Yeah, being locked in a boxcar, bound and gagged, it wasn't the best experience I've ever had."

"I believe you. It doesn't sound fun." Nevaeh was at the bottom of the steps by now, Tyera not far behind. They walked out the doors into the street.

"Where are we anyway?" Nevaeh asked. "I don't think I've ever been here before."

"Uh, hold on need to look around. I haven't been here in awhile." Tyera spun in a slow circle taking in every building and sign. "I don't remember the town's name. But we're just a two days ride from my town. Everyone here is pretty friendly. And the sheriff here wanted those men dead, I might have to talk to him."

Nevaeh shrugged. "Oh well." She began walking towards the end of the dirt road out of town. 

"Wait don't you want to wait for your horse?" Tyera asked as she untied her horse.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Neveah called back. "I'm calling her."

"Okay then. New to your talent remember?"

Nevaeh reached the end of the road and held up her finger. Then, turning so she was facing out of town, she let out a high pitched whistle, so sharp it made Tyera wince.

Then, she stood there, at the end of the road, waiting, her long skirt and long, raven black hair fluttering in the slight breeze. It didn't take long until Tyera could very faintly hear the thrumming of hoofbeats, gradually striding closer. 

Then, a spirited whine split the air and the strawberry roan mare came galloping into view, slowing to a halt in front of Nevaeh.

Tyera's eyes widen a little as she mumbled under her breath. "Wow." 

Nevaeh's mare leaned her head towards her, almost resting on her chest. Tyera could see Nevaeh smile, then cradle the horse's head in her hands and whisper something to her in a language Tyera couldn't recognize, probably Welsh. Then Nevaeh stroked her head and grasped the reins, leading her over to where Tyera stood with her horse. Hanner Nos had jumped over from Nevaeh's shoulder and was now settled comfortably on the saddle.

"Ready?"

Nevaeh smiled. "I would be, but I need to feed and water my horse before we head out."

Tyera only nodded. "Alright."


	8. Moving In

It was a two day's ride back to Tyera's town. Before they had left the town they spent the night in, Tyera had stopped by the sheriff's office and it turned out there was a hefty reward for one of the men who kidnapped Nevaeh. With the new payment she had, Tyera was able to house herself and Nevaeh at an inn when the day faded away.

Once they reached Tyera's home town, it had slipped to midday. Since she hadn't been home in quite awhile, Tyera figured that the things she had in her saddle bags had gone bad and decided that she would have to make a quick supply run. Stopping in front of the general store, she climbed off her horse and started tying the mare to the hitching post.

"I need to get a few things." She explained to Nevaeh. "You can wait out here if you want to."

Nevaeh slid off as well. "Nah, I'll come in with you. Last time I waited outside things didn't go very well."

"Okay, it shouldn't take long." Tyera turned and began walking inside.

Nobody seemed to be around when they entered, when she approached the counter Tyera leaned forward a little and called. "Hello, anybody here?"

In a few short minutes, a man with graying hair, and blue eyes came out from the back. A small smile began to form when he saw her.

"Tyera, back so soon."

"Didn't have time to take things home, I've been a bit busy. I just need to get a few things."

"Ah, I see." He looked past her and saw Nevaeh standing behind her. "Who's your new friend?"

"This is Nevaeh. Nevaeh, meet my father."

"Hello." Nevaeh scooted out from behind with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

He smiled back at her. "You too."

"I'm going to go get the things I need. Why don't you two get to know each other?" Without waiting much for an answer Tyera turned and disappeared.

Her father rested his arms against the counter. "She's going to be a little bit, might as well do as she suggested." He said. "So how did you two meet?"

Nevaeh paused, looking a bit startled. "Ummm... I guess I kind of got her out of a sticky situation. Of sorts."

"In other words you saved her from something she couldn't get herself out of?" He questioned. "That wouldn't be the first time it's happened. I know of her line of work, the sheriff practically taught her everything she knows."

"Ah."

"She told you the reason why she became a bounty hunter yes?"

"That's correct, yes. Why do you ask?" Nevaeh tilted her head a bit.

"There may have been a few things she left out." He explained. "She was mainly after vengeance for what happened to her mother." He sighed a little. "She was very upset when it happened and she had nightmares a few days later. It's possible she never out grew them."

At this Nevaeh relaxed. "Oh, I've got some experience with those as well."

"I should warn you though, she occasionally has violent outbursts. She avoids hurting those she cares about, she'll isolate herself until she calms down. Ranging from a few hours to a day or so."

"Good to know. Anything else?"

"As far as I know she's possibly still ticklish. If she's ever in a sour mood you could always try that."

This made Nevaeh smile broadly, though she was trying her best to hide it. "Ticklish, really?" Suddenly, a sharp meow came from behind her.

"Really. Where did that come from?"

Nevaeh turned to see Hanner Nos standing on the floor behind her. "Sorry." Nevaeh muttered as she bent down to pick her up.

"You never mentioned you had a cat."

"I just got her."

"Oh, what's her name then?"

"Midnight." Nevaeh went with the translated version to spare the explanation.

"Interesting pick." Soon the sound of heavy boots hitting the floor coming closer interrupted them. "Don't tell Tyera about the tickling. She'll be furious." He gave a bit of a mischievous smile.

"I'll have to remember that for future reference." Nevaeh smiled before turning to face Tyera as she returned, Hanner Nos climbing onto her shoulder.

"Here we are." Tyera said as she placed her items on the counter.

"Find everything then?" Her father began to ring up her things.

"Yup, should last about a week or two." She began to reach into her pocket for her money.

"Alright then." The last item was brought up, Tyera gave her father the amount of money needed, as she and Nevaeh began to walk out he called after them. "Take care now, and it was a pleasure to meet you Nevaeh."

"You too, Tyera's father!" Nevaeh awkwardly responded. Tyera's father simply smiled in return.

"So, did you two enjoy getting to know each other?" Tyera asked as she started putting her things into her saddle bags.

"Yeah. He said you were ticklish." Nevaeh smiled mischievously.

"He likes to believe that. I grew out of it though." Tyera refused to make eye contact as she said this.

"If you say so." Nevaeh chuckled as she went to untie her horse.

"I do." Getting curious Tyera looked at her as she untied her horse as well. "What else did he tell you about me?"

"That you get nightmares a lot."

"Well I could've told you that. I swear these are the reasons I get caught by other people. My father over shares a bit." She pulled herself aboard her horse. "Thank god I live out in the middle of nowhere."

"Yep." Nevaeh followed her lead, setting Hanner Nos on the saddle first before climbing on.

"If there was anything you wanted to know about me you could've just asked."

"I didn't ask. He just seemed like sharing so I went with it."

"His sharing will one day be the death of me." She sighed. "That or people who don't feel like going to jail just yet."

Nevaeh's face contorted into a strange shape as she tried really hard not to laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing, just the way you said it." Nevaeh said between giggles.

"What's wrong with the way I said it?"

"Nothing, it was just really funny for some reason." She finally gained control of her laugher.

"What about it was funny?"

"Nevermind, it's not important."

"Fine." She relented. "Come on, let's get a move on. Home is three miles away."

"Yep."

******

The three miles came and went like it was nothing, the day had slipped into early evening once they reached Tyera's home. Dismounting as soon as they reached the property, Tyera started to lead her horse to the barn. "Why don't you go make yourself at home? I'll take both our horses to the barn and unsaddled."

"Alright." Nevaeh climbed off, Hanner Nos jumping onto her shoulder as soon as she got to the ground.

Tyera took the reins of Nevaeh's horse and led them both to the barn to be unsaddled and stabled.

Taking Tyera's advice, Nevaeh had gone to the house while Tyera stabled their horses. The steps leading up to the front porch squeaked a little with each step. As she pulled open the screen and main door, they too squeaked a little on their hinges.

The main floor was well furnished when she walked in. Behind the door was a coat rack, on the right hand side was the living room. Against the far end of the room was a small couch, an even smaller coffee table sat in front of it and was cluttered with old things. On the other side of the room was a bookshelf that held several old or unread books. To the left was the kitchen and dinning area where the kitchen table was cluttered with even more old things.

At the back of the living room, opposite the front door were a flight of stairs, going up to the right along the wall to the second floor. On the second floor were three bedrooms. One to the left, right, and dead center. The bedroom in the center had its door closed, while the other two were wide open.

Nevaeh headed towards the room closest to her, and peeking inside, saw a plain bed sitting with its headboard against the wall on the wall opposite the door. It seemed that Tyera used this room mostly for storage, an old saddle sat in one corner, a couple of wooden boxes were placed in various places around the room, and other various items were strewn on the bed, hung on hooks from the wall, or sat on top of the boxes. She stepped back out into the hallway, moving to the next room down.

The next room had a vaguely similar set up, only minus the wooden boxes. The curtains had been drawn to let in sunlight. Next to the bed was a small bedside table with a candle in need of changing. A trunk sat at the foot of the bed, a small padlock was on it to keep it closed. Nevaeh thought best to leave things as they were, seeing as Tyera seemed to value her privacy and quickly moved back into the hallway, heading for the door on the end.

The next room she checked seemed almost empty. A light layer of dust collected on the floor and windowsill. There were no curtains hanging in front of the window so light from outside spilled through. The air was also a bit stuffy from poor air circulation, a problem that could be easily fixed by opening the window during warmer weather. Other than the bed, there wasn't much else in the room except a little nightstand with an unlit oil lamp set on top of it.

Downstairs the door had opened and closed and the sound of Tyera walking in could be heard. She soon made her way up the stairs and eventually made her way to the very last room that Nevaeh was in.

"So." She started. "Find a room you like?" She had left her hat downstairs, so Nevaeh could see Tyera's hair that fell more above her right eye and tucked behind her ear.

Nevaeh turned to face her, a little smile gracing her face. "Yeah, this one looks good." She moved to the window. "Though it could be aired out a bit and dusted." She began to open up the window. "Did my horse give you any trouble when you stabled her?"

"No, and that window has a tendency to get stuck. Do you want some help?"

"No thanks, I've got it." Nevaeh gave a firm tug and the window finally popped open. "Ta da."

"Alright then, I'll go get some things to dust the room with." Tyera turned to get some things, not before stopping and turning around to add one more thing. "Oh, and if you want to add anything to your new room we can go into town tomorrow to get them."

Nevaeh turned to face her. "Tyera?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Really. It's been a long time since anyone's helped me, let alone taken me into their home and given me a room." Nevaeh looked like she was caught between happiness and about to cry.

Tyera turned back around and walked into the room. "It's no trouble, think nothing of it. I don't know if my father told you this, but I had a hard time making friends. It's not easy living a lonely life. And you know, not a lot of people can relate to childhood trauma. So it's nice to find that one person who can."

Nevaeh gave a humored huff. "Yay, team ruined childhoods." She said sarcastically, though still looking a bit amused.

"Yeah, yay. Anyway, I'll go get those things and we can start dusting the room."

"Okay."

Tyera gave a small smile, then turned and walked out of the room to gather the cleaning supplies. Meanwhile, Nevaeh set to work on airing out the room, then focused on the bed. When it had been made to her satisfaction, Nevaeh stepped back, eyeing the bare wooden floor. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and focused. In seconds, a large cotton rug with a blue and purple chevron pattern had woven itself together and laid itself out on the floor, stretching across a little less than half of the room. When she opened her eyes Nevaeh smiled proudly at her final result.

Soon Tyera returned with a small bucket filled with water in hand and two rags draped over the side along with a wood polisher her mother showed her how to make. "Okay I got some things to-" She stopped suddenly when she saw the blue and purple rug on the floor. Quickly gathering herself she shook herself out of her surprise. "I got the things we need to get this room back to its former glory."

Nevaeh smiled. "Do you like it?"

Tyera sat the bucket and wood polisher down on the wood floor. "Yeah, looks nice. Except we'll have to move it when we clean the floor. But other than that, yeah it's nice."

"I'll roll it up real quick then." Nevaeh knelt down and began to roll.

While she did that Tyera began to clean off the floor with one of the rags, dunking it in the bucket and ringing it out before setting to work. Once Nevaeh got the rug rolled up and out of the way, she started helping Tyera clean up the floor as well.

Tyera stopped a moment and straightened out a bit. "Nevaeh, there's one more thing you should know. Remember how I said I use people with my line of work? Well, there are people who make it through whatever mess I drag them into. They somehow manage to find me and send someone to get their revenge for them."

Nevaeh paused for a minute then straightened up too. "What's your point?"

"My point is, I'm well known just about anywhere. I have a reputation that follows me, it mainly says that I work alone and I have a cold heart. If someone figures that out then there's no doubt in my mind that they'll find ways to get to me in order to get what they're after. I know you can handle yourself just fine, I'm just saying that this job comes with its flaws."

Nevaeh nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. I know I'm not the best at fighting people off, case in point, recent events, but I can do my best."

"I can show you how." Tyera offered. "I learned how to fight and fire a gun. I could show you a thing or two."

"Sure, if you think it would help."

"I believe it would. I'll warn you though, it won't be easy."

"I'm a fast learner, I'll make it through." Nevaeh smiled a little.

Tyera smiled back and went back to what she was doing. "Alright, we'll start after we get your room in order."

"Today?" Nevaeh looked a bit surprised. "The sun's already starting to go down."

"The sooner the better. That's how I started, and the darker it is the higher chance you'll have at heightening your senses when you can't see."

Nevaeh frowned. "But sleep is important Tyera. Without it, my powers are fried. I have to sleep."

"Yes but, no magic allowed. There may be situations where you won't be able to use it. But we can start at dawn tomorrow if you want to."

"Sounds fair. Now let's get this done so we can both go to bed." Nevaeh gave a tiny yawn before going back to work.

"Alright."

******

It was early the next morning. The air was a bit cold and the sky was paint a red and orange color. Tyera had led Neveah a fair distance away from the house. "Hope you had a good night's rest, you're gonna need it for today's training."

"Mhm." Nevaeh mumbled. "When can we have breakfast?"

"Soon enough, but right now there's things to be done. Perhaps we could put off training." Tyera smiled a little. "Since you own a horse now, perhaps I should teach you how to care for one. That is if you've never had one."

"Nope, never." Nevaeh gazed back towards the house. "Perhaps I should go see what Hanner Nos is up to." She started to walk away.

"Whoa, no." Tyera moved to cut her off. "If you're going to be staying here you're required to do half the work that needs to be done. That includes taking care of your horse. And we'll be starting with that, as soon as that's done we'll have breakfast."

"Alright then." Nevaeh gave in, following Tyera to the barn.

"The first thing I normally start off with." Tyera started as they reached the barn. "Is check for horse shit, and there always is. Which means their stable always needs to be cleaned out in the morning, and in the evening. You don't get queasy easily do you?" She turned around to face Nevaeh.

"No."

"Good, find a pitch fork and start mucking. I'll be back with a wheelbarrow."

Nevaeh made a face. "Lovely."

"What? You thought horse poop took care of itself?" Tyera was half way across the barn now.

"No. I'm not dumb Tyera."

"I never said you were. Don't worry, you'll get used it. The smell barely fazes me anymore." She walked over with the wheelbarrow, placing it between the two horse stalls along with two pitchforks. "Better get started then, the sooner we're done the soon we can eat."

Nevaeh sighed and picked up a pitchfork. "Fine."

It took between ten and fifteen minutes before all the poop was cleared. Tyera stepped out of her horse's stall and began to move the wheelbarrow. "See that wasn't so bad. Now to give them breakfast, hay is up in the loft." She walked to the far end of the barn where a ladder to the hayloft should have been. "You want to wait down here while I get it?"

"Sure." Nevaeh went over to her horse and began to pet her nose. "Good girl." She praised, receiving a happy rumble in response.

Tyera smiled before turning and figuring a way up. Looking to her left there was an empty stall. She hopped onto the gate and used a support beam to get herself up and into the loft. "Hello down there." She called before disappearing from sight. A few moments later she reappeared, a bale of hay resting on her shoulder and she called again. "Hay bale coming down." She tossed it down and it landed with a loud thump.

Nevaeh looked up, slightly puzzled. "Shouldn't there be a ladder there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Then where is it?"

"It's broken."

Nevaeh looked confused. "What happened to it?"

Tyera looked away for moment, thankful for the distance as she felt her face burn. "It broke."

"How?"

Tyera took a moment before answering. "It just did."

Nevaeh made a face. "As far as I know, things don't just break on their own."

Tyera sighed as she began to make her way down. "I broke it. Two years ago."

Nevaeh sighed. "And you never bothered getting a new one?"

"Not really no. I'm prone to random bouts of anger there's no point."

Nevaeh didn't look very convinced.

"I am, I have my violent outbursts and it happened one day in the barn when I was taking care of things. I have no control over what I do. I don't even remember them happening, but I do remember what I was doing before hand." She hopped off the stall gate. "They started when I thirteen, it's part of who I am. Along with another thing wrong with me."

"Such as?"

"It's not important, the other thing only spikes once a year." Tyera picked up the hay bale and carried it over to where Nevaeh stood.

"Okay then."

"So we're good?"

"I suppose so."

"Okay, let's get these horses fed then we can go back to the house and do the same."

"Okay." Nevaeh's horse had already started in on the hay.

"Your horse can have that bale, I'll go up and get second for mine." She turned and went back up to the loft, grabbed a second bale, and gave it to her horse. Brushing a bit of hair back, Tyera turned to Nevaeh.

"So, what would you like for breakfast?"

"Eggs and toast?" Nevaeh asked hopefully.

"Alright, let's get washed up first."

"Mhm."

"Come on, let's get going." She began to walk out of the barn, hands tucked in her pockets.

Given that Tyera and Nevaeh spent an hour or so in the barn, the sun had risen higher in the sky and the air started getting a bit warmer. As soon as they had washed up, Tyera began making breakfast for the two of them. Tyera occasionally looked to the cupboard where she had hidden a bottle of whiskey. She didn't care who knew about her drinking, but the thought of Nevaeh knowing bothered her a bit. She shoved the feeling down and continued with the task at hand. Before long she stepped out of the kitchen with two plates of food.

"Come and get it."

Nevaeh stood, giving her a warm smile as she accepted her plate. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Tyera smiled back.

Nevaeh sat down at the kitchen table and immediately started in on her breakfast. Tyera sat down opposite her and did the same, taking a touch longer to get started.

"So, I was wondering if we might go into town today. I'm wondering if I can find some books to read. I used to love reading, though I never got much time for the past thirteen years." She smiled sheepishly.

"I have books I never touched on the bookshelf, but alright. When would you like to go into town?"

"This afternoon maybe?"

"Sure."

A childish smile spread across her face. "Yay."

Tyera smiled a little and let out a half hearted laugh.

"So, what books do you have here?" Nevaeh took a bite of toast.

"You know, I've had them for so long I can't remember. Never had time to sit down and read one of them. Always kept myself busy with house work and other things."

"Well then, let's find out."

"Be my guest."

Nevaeh took a few more bites of her eggs. "I will after breakfast."

"Okay then." Tyera took a few more bites of her breakfast as well.

"So, Tyera, how did you get that name?" Nevaeh asked curiously, looking up from her plate.

"I could ask you the same question. I think my parents wanted something that would run nicely with my last name."

"Really? What is your last name?"

"Calverley."

"I like that. Tyera Calverley." Nevaeh smiled pleasantly.

Tyera smiled back at her. "Thanks."

"Mine's Myrdeen, if you were wondering."

"Myrdeen, very nice."

"Thanks, it's been in my family for quite some time. I'm not entirely sure where it came from though."

"That's alright, not a lot of people know where anything comes from it seems nowadays."

Nevaeh shrugged. "I'm not really concerned about it. So, what do you do for fun around here other than chase down bad guys?"

"Well, that would depend on your definition on fun. I usually try to keep up on things that need to be done around the house. If its not housework then I work on my aim with my gun and my ability to fight."

"Ah."

"Not very interesting I know. There is…one other thing though."

Nevaeh looked quite interested. "What?"

Tyera gave a slight uneasy sound. "I'll be honest, it used to be a big problem in the past but I've got a handle on it now. If there's one thing everybody knows about me, other than being this town's only bounty hunter, is that like most of the people here I drink."

Nevaeh just sat there for a second, staring at her in disbelief before finally snapping out of it. "Oh." She said quietly.

"Like I said, I've got a handle on it now. But it did go too far a long time ago." Tyera stood up to take her plate to the kitchen. "I'm not proud of it though."

"Okay."

"I've never opened up this much with anyone before. Possibly because I don't trust anyone yet here I am telling almost everything there is to know about me." She came back from the kitchen and leaned against the door frame.

"It's okay, I don't mind." Nevaeh reassured her.

"It's strange though because I've known you for a few days. Some people here have known me for years and still don't know everything about me. It's a bit of a battle for them to even get the day I was born from me."

"Hm." Nevaeh finished her breakfast and started towards the sink. "When were you born?"

"Oh no, I may be the slightest bit open about my personal life but I'm not that open."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Alright grumpy pants." Nevaeh finished washing her dishes and set them out to dry. "I'm going to go find those books now." She headed towards the staircase.

"I'm not grumpy, just very self reserved." Tyera called after her.

"Mhm."

Tyera simply rolled her eyes at her. Of course, Nevaeh was already halfway up the stairs so she couldn't see her.

"Let me know if you find anything interesting."

"Okay." Nevaeh called back.

"Might not be anything interesting though." Tyera muttered under breath, starting on work that needed to be done around the house. About five minutes later, Nevaeh came down the stairs, carrying a large open book.

Tyera was wiping down old stains from the kitchen table, she looked up when she heard Nevaeh come down the stairs. "Found something?"

Nevaeh lifted it up briefly. "Photo album."

"Oh god, never thought you'd find that."

Nevaeh stopped on one picture, looking at it intently. "This one looks like your father, and this one looks like you. Oh my gosh, you're adorable!" Nevaeh smiled up at her for a second before looking back down at the book. "So this woman must be your mother." A pleasant smile graced her expression. "She's quite lovely, a lot like you don't you think?" She looked up at her.

Tyera's gaze dropped as she set down the rag she was using to clean off the table top. "Yeah, people had said I took after her more than my father."

"I can see why, same eyes, same nose and cheekbones. My father said I looked just like my mother too, just wish I had more time with them. But the past is the past." Nevaeh sighed before closing the book.

Tyera swallowed hard against a knot in her throat, head still lowered. "Yeah, past is past." Her voice was small.

"I didn't find much for other books upstairs, though you may want to think about cleaning out the storage room sometime in the future." Nevaeh started back upstairs to return the book.

Tyera finally brought her head up. "Right, I've been meaning to do that but I kept putting it off. Wait, why were you in the storage room?"

"When I was looking around last night."

"Oh. There's still a few things that need to be done around the house, I still have yet to teach you how to hold your own, and I think you said you wanted to make a trip in to town for anything you need."

"Yeah." Nevaeh called downstairs.

"What do you want to do first?" Tyera picked up the old rag and returned it to its place.

She started back downstairs after putting the album back in it's place. "I'm not sure."

"We've got all the time in the world, well before I'm called in for another collection. Quite frankly I'd like to see how well you can fend for yourself, without magic."

"As you've seen recently, not so well." Nevaeh said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"It was several against one, hardly fair. Don't feel embarrassed, I was in your place once. You'll learn though."

Nevaeh's eyebrows furrowed. "Really? How so?"

"Once I became a teenager, I wanted to settle the score on what was done to my mother when I was ten. Went to the sheriff, begged him to let me be his partner and taught me everything I know. Then a few years later I became a bounty hunter, I was still learning from him and tripped up while on my first collection order. The man I was after had the upper hand and was able to over power me within the first ten minutes of trying to kick each others ass."

Nevaeh looked concerned. "What happened?"

"I was just inexperienced that's all. I was able to save myself though."

"Well, that's obvious because you're still here. I meant did you get hurt?"

"I always get hurt, my first order was the first time I was shot at."

"Did they get you?" Nevaeh sat down on the sofa in the living room, her gaze still fixed on Tyera.

"Yup." Tyera sat down next to her.

"Where?"

"My left shoulder, left a bit of a scar."

"May I see? I mean, if you're okay with it."

"I'm okay with it, you can see if you want to." Tyera undid the first few buttons on her shirt to pull down the shoulder and show Nevaeh where she was shot.

Nevaeh leaned in closer to get a better look, moving to touch the scar but stopped when she got close. "I could make the scar go away if you want." She offered. "One of the only things I'm quite good at is healing, both myself and others."

"Yeah, I know." Tyera recovered her shoulder and redid the buttons. "It's fine though, I've gotten quite used it. There's a few others too, you learn not to let it bother you."

"Alright. Should we head into town now?"

"Sure, we can leave whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready now. Let's go saddle up the horses."

Tyera gave her a small smile. "Alright."


	9. Past Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! That took awhile... It's been quite awhile since we last updated. Many things happening recently, just got away from us I guess. Anyway, here's some more. It's not much, but at least it's something. Enjoy

"Wow, that's a lot of books." Nevaeh commented as soon as they stepped inside. "I don't think I've ever seen this many books in one place in my entire life..."

"You get used to it when you've lived here for as long as I have." Tyera shrugged.

"I don't know where to start." Nevaeh glanced around before heading over to her right.

Tyera hung back to let Nevaeh find anything that caught her eye or interest.

Nevaeh went around the bookshelves, scanning the shelves for something that caught her attention.

"Got yourself a new friend?" The shopkeeper, a young woman around Tyera's age asked. "You know how dangerous that is for you don't you?"

"Yeah, but she's different." Tyera says back. "She has nowhere else to go and I offered to let her stay with me. I warned her about the life I live, she's aware of the enemies I've made."

"That's good, at least she knows what she's getting herself into."

"Mmhmm."

"Tyera, I think I found one I like!"

"That's good, bring it over and we'll get it for you!"

"Coming!"

Tyera smiled a little as she waited for her.

"Here ya go." Nevaeh smiled, setting the book down on the counter.

The shopkeeper smiled at Nevaeh. "Find something interesting ma'am?"

"Mhm. I found a fantasy story."

"Ah, nice choice." She rang up the book, Tyera paying for it. "Have a nice day you two."

Nevaeh gave her a warm smile. "You too."

She smiled back and waved as they left. Tyera gave her a small wave back.

"So back home then?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to crack it open."

Tyera smiled and let out a small huff.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just-" She was cut off by the sound of shouting coming from a few buildings over. It was loud enough to get both of their attention. "Son of a bitch."

"What?"

"Dammit Don I swear to god if that's you who started a fight I'm throwing your ass in jail. Hang on, gotta break up a fight, again." She started off for the saloon.

Nevaeh stopped where she was. "Oh, okay. Be careful."

"You can follow me if you want to." Tyera called over her shoulder.

"No, I think I'll wait here."

"Alright." Tyera disappeared into the saloon for a few minutes before a man got thrown out and landed on the dirt road, Tyera following him out and shouting at him. He got to his feet to try and defend himself.

"I don't care what he said you instigated it Don I know you! You were a piece of shit then and you're a piece of shit now!" Tyera shouted at him.

Nevaeh let out a tiny chuckle. "Oh dear..."

"Tyera if you would just-"

"Save it." She snapped at him, closing the distance. "You never cared what I thought then why would you care now?"

He reached out to try and put a hand on her shoulder but she stopped him, grabbing his wrist and pulling her gun out she aimed it below his belt, muttering a quick threat that made him turn white.

Nevaeh's expression fell. "Oh. Oh dear."

Once Tyera thought her message got through she re-holstered her gun and started back towards Nevaeh. "That's taken care of." She says with a smile, however her threat wasn't taken seriously as the man she referred to as Don pulled out his own gun and fired at her. She cursed loudly in pain, grabbing the back of her arm and whipped around. "I warned you!" She let go of her arm and shot him twice, grabbing her arm again as he fell to the ground cursing at her.

Nevaeh yelped, diving behind the nearest building to take cover, holding her new book close to her.

Tyera dropped to her knees, holding her arm tight. "That asshole shot me. It's okay Nevaeh, he's down for the count. And so am I."

Nevaeh peeked out from behind the building, her expression falling as soon as she saw Tyera holding her bleeding arm. "Tyera!"

Tyera winced in pain. "I'm okay, I'll be okay. It's not the first time I've been shot remember?"

"I know, but we need to get you home so we can take care of you." Nevaeh ripped a piece of cloth of her shirt, wrapping it tightly around Tyera's arm.

"Ah! Careful." Tyera hissed before taking a deep breath. "The sheriff can stop by the house if he wants to know what happened. Don is an asshole and deserved what he got."

"I know. Let's go." Nevaeh helped her up.

"I got it." Tyera tried to stand on her own.

Nevaeh helped Tyera onto her horse, before following behind her on her own.

Tyera breathed through the pain the entire way home, keeping pressure on her arm despite the makeshift bandaging around her arm.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine as I'll ever be."

"You'll feel much better after I've removed the bullet and healed you." Nevaeh commented as they rode, keeping a close eye on Tyera.

"Yeah, I know."

"Just hang in there until then, okay?"

"Oh don't worry, I'm trying.

"I know you are, just keep going."

"I am."

"Good." Nevaeh nodded. At this point she was just trying to keep herself calm. There was no use in freaking out while Tyera lost blood.

Tyera held on tight to her arm, it had been awhile since she felt this much pain. She was looking forward to getting home.

Nevaeh could see the faint outline of the wood home in the distance, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

Blood was starting to soak through the bandaging and onto her hand. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the house as well.

"Let's get you inside as quickly as possible."

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to stable the horses while you get some more bandages?"

"Sure."

Nevaeh nodded. "Okay."

Tyera slid off her horse, holding onto the reins to keep herself upright.

Nevaeh dismounted as well, taking Tyera's reins as well as hers. "Are you going to make it in okay?"

Tyera nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

"Okay, just sit down on the couch when you get in, I'll be back as soon as possible." With that Nevaeh quickly lead the horses away towards the barn, disappearing inside.

"Yup." Tyera turned towards the house, taking Nevaeh's advice and sitting down on the couch still clutching her arm.

Nevaeh worked as fast as she could, unsaddling both horses before giving them a quick brush down and their dinner before rushing back to the house to help Tyera. "Okay, I'm back, just gotta grab the towels."

"Forget about towels just take the stupid thing out!"

"Fine, I just thought you didn't want blood on your couch." Nevaeh let out an angry sigh before sitting back down next to her and carefully unwrapping the wound.

"I could seriously care less about this couch. Have you seen the state of the house?"

Nevaeh looked slightly annoyed. "Fine, let's get this over with. This may hurt." Nevaeh carefully reached into the wound, searching around for the bullet.

"Ah!" Tyera shoved her fist in her mouth to keep from screaming any further.

"Got it." Nevaeh tugged out the crumpled piece of metal, setting it down on her lap. "It feels like you might have a small fracture as well, so I'll need to fix that too. Though that will take longer than a mere flesh wound." She wiped her hands off on a rag she had grabbed on her way in before carefully wrapping her hands around Tyera's arm and focusing.

Tyera whimpered around the fist shoved in her mouth.

Nevaeh's healing magic stung slightly, but Tyera just told herself that that meant it was working.

With her free hand Tyera fisted her hand in the fabric of her pants until her knuckles turned white.

"Just hang in there a little longer." Nevaeh whispered, though Tyera wasn't sure if she was telling her this or talking to herself. Already Nevaeh looked exhausted from the output healing took, and Tyera wasn't sure how much longer she would make it.

Tyera tried taking deep breaths and block out the pain while trying to hang in there.

Finally, Nevaeh's hands dropped, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep right then and there. "There, good as new." She said quietly, a tiny yawn escaping. "I'm just gonna, take a nap now..."

"You and me both."

Nevaeh's eyes slipped closed as she sank down into the couch cushions, falling asleep immediately.

Tyera followed suit, sinking into her seat her hand going where the wound was.

Her skin was completely healed, just like new, soft and smooth, and she felt no pain when she applied pressure.

"Cool." She closed her eyes, days of sleepless nights finally catching up to her.

Tyera woke up the next morning with a kink in her neck from sleeping on the couch. She went to rub the aching away as she stood up to stretch her sore muscles.

When she glanced over at Nevaeh she was still out cold, healing turrets had obviously taken a lot out of her.

Tyera grabbed a blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and placed it over Nevaeh. She carefully took off her boots so she could quietly walk around the house without waking Nevaeh.

Nevaeh slept through most of the morning into the early afternoon.

Tyera was able to take care of most of the house work inside before slipping out to the barn. She figured Nevaeh would be able to find her if she needed her.

Nevaeh woke up not long after Tyera left for the barn, stretching out as she let out a big yawn. "Tyera?" She called when she didn't see her. No response. Nevaeh shrugged. "Must be out in the barn." She looked out the window, blinking at the sun.

Tyera was in the barn giving her and Nevaeh's horse hay. Stepping out of the barn she brought the brim of her hat down to shield her eyes from the sun.

Nevaeh saw Tyera heading back and decided to go upstairs to change before she got back.

Tyera took her hat off when she got inside the house. Letting out a small sigh, having done most of the housework alone.

Nevaeh came back downstairs not long after. "Hey, how's everything in the barn?"

"A mess." Tyera answers. "I think a raccoon got in last night. I'll have to find how the fucker got in."

"Ummm... Maybe through the many holes?"

"Haha very funny. I'll fix them later, right now I need to sit down." She plops down on the couch.

"Tired already?" Nevaeh laughed.

"I've been up since the crack of dawn restoring the barn to its former glory and feeding our horses by myself."

"Oh, sorry about that. I had no idea I'd be out that long." Nevaeh looked embarrassed.

"It's okay." Tyera leaned her head against the back of the couch. "I get it."

"By the way, how's the arm feeling? I can't remember if I healed the bone all the way or not."

"Sore but that's from heavy lifting all morning, other than that it feels like I never got shot. Fucking asshole." Tyera muttered the last part under her breath.

"What the hell did you say to him anyway that got him so shook up?"

"Touch me again and I'll shoot off your manhood." She said with a straight face.

Nevaeh sat there for moment, looking shocked, before suddenly bursting into a fit of laughter. "Oh, oh my god Tyera! The the hell??!!"

"What? The man's a horrible person, I would know."

Nevaeh giggled. "Oh Tyera, you'll never cease to amaze me." Her hand gently landed on Tyera's thigh.

Tyera flinched at Nevaeh's touch, she pulled away crossing it over the other. "Thanks I think."

Nevaeh looked slightly bothered that Tyera pulled away but quickly got over it. "It's okay, I meant it as a compliment."

"Thanks." Tyera repeats, relaxing a fraction. "I mean it though, terrible person, horrible excuse of a man."

"I'm sure."

"You wouldn't know unless you've lived with him." Tyera mutters.

"What?"

"Nothing." She quickly gets up and heads for the kitchen, avoiding the conversion. "What do you want for lunch? Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I woke up, saw you coming back from the barn, and got changed. That's all."

"Are you hungry?"

Nevaeh nodded. "Quite."

"What would you like?"

"I dunno, whatever you have I guess."

Tyera sighs. "Alright."

"So, do you have anything you still need to do today?"

"Shit ton."

"Oh, okay. Ummm..." Nevaeh looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to say something.

Tyera shrugged as she went back to what she was doing in the kitchen, making an old stew recipe her mother taught her how to make when she was young.

"Tyera, what did you mean earlier when you said I wouldn't know unless I'd lived with him?" Nevaeh finally said.

Nevaeh heard Tyera drop something in the kitchen, muttering a few choice words. "Um, I uh, he courted me for a few years. Don didn't really approve, nor support my profession and said I'd be happier, safer, as a wife and mother." Her words tasted bitter on her tongue as she thought back. "Let's just say he tried everything to change me and get me to give up bounty hunting in not so great ways." Tyera had to brace herself against the counter, it wasn't a pleasant thought to think about.

"Oh. Tyera, I had no idea." Nevaeh sounded like she regretted asking. "But he's gone now, right?"

"I don't know, maybe. I mean he's not in my life anymore that's for sure."

"But you shot him last night. He fell."

"Technically it was yesterday afternoon and he was being dramatic. I shot him in the leg he'll be okay, I've been waiting for years for a reason to shoot him."

Nevaeh looked nervous. "What if he shows up here?"

"Then I'll shoot him. He knows I'm a good shot and I'll go through with my threat."

"Oh, okay..."

"What? We're safe here, he's a yellow bellied coward anyway."

Nevaeh sighed. "Just please don't get blood on the floor. Again."  
  
"There's not really a whole lot I can do about that. Bounty hunter remember? Speaking of, usually after a day or two someone from the next town over is sending a letter asking me for my help. Haven't received anything yet, weird."  
  
"Maybe they're giving you a while to recover."  
  
"Recover from what? I haven't been doing a lot the past few days."  
  
"Well, you kinda just got shot."  
  
"By Don, who's the biggest fucking dick I know who has the balls to try and get what we had back despite all the shit he put me through." Tyera's fist collided with the kitchen wall, creating a large hole. Her chest heaved with heavy breathing as she tried to keep her throat from tightening.  
  
Nevaeh yelped, looking startled. "What the hell was that for?"  
  
Tyera opened her mouth to say something, fist still in the wall, but closed it as nothing came out. Dammit, she thought, not now, not yet. She stood there trying to will herself to calm down. "Nothing." She muttered.  
  
"It doesn't look like nothing."  
  
"It's nothing." She pulled her hand back to inspect the damage she did to it. It was red and scraped around the knuckles but otherwise it didn't look so bad.  
  
Nevaeh stepped forwards, carefully taking a hold of Tyera's hand. "Here, let me." She said gently.  
  
"No." She took her hand away. "I'm fine, I'll be fine."  
  
"No, you're not. You're hurt."  
  
"A scraped hand won't kill me Nevaeh. It's not like I haven't done it before." She says quietly as she goes to find something to wrap it with.  
  
"You've done this before?"  
  
"You should take a long hard look at the house and barn. Pay really close attention to the walls." She comes back tightly wrapping a strip of white cloth around her hand.  
  
Nevaeh paused for a moment, looking quite distraught. "Please Tyera, just let me heal you. I hate to see you in pain."  
  
"You underestimate how high my pain tolerance is. This is nothing compared to being hit." She ties it off and brings her hand down to her side.  
  
Nevaeh sounded frustrated. "Why won't you let me heal you?"  
  
"Because it's not worth the time or effort. I noticed how much energy healing the gunshot wound took out of you. It's just not worth that, I'll be fine in a few days."  
  
"It took a lot out of me because I was healing bone."  
  
"Nobody told you to. I didn't tell you nor ask you to fix it." Tyera's throat started to tighten again, she needed to leave before she lost her composure. "I'm not worth the time." She mumbled before going for the front door as quickly as she could to hide herself away in the barn.  
  
"Tyera.." Nevaeh went to stop her, but thought against it at the last second.  
  
Tyera let the door slam behind her as she went to the barn. The ladder to the loft was broken but she had creative ways of getting up there. That was where she went, hiding herself away as her thoughts began to turn on her.  
  
Nevaeh waited a couple minutes, trying to decide whether or not to follow after her, before eventually chasing after her.  
  
"Dammit." Tyera had muttered to herself repeatedly. She had hoped she'd be able to avoid a mood swing like that, she didn't think talking about her past would even set one off. It looked like Nevaeh was going to be another person she hid this from.  
  
At least until she heard the barn door scraping open just a little bit and Nevaeh's voice ring out. "Tyera, are you in here?"  
  
Tyera curled tighter in her corner, after years of being a bounty hunter she learned how to be quiet when she didn't want to be found.  
  
"Tyera, I know you're in here somewhere, just please tell me what's wrong?"  
  
But she couldn't, she didn't know herself. So she stopped bothering trying to explain it to people, she knew they wouldn't understand.  
  
"Tyera?" Nevaeh's voice was laced with genuine concern. "Do you wanna talk about it?"  
  
Not really, she thought to herself staying up in the barn. She knew her father told, or in her mind warned, Nevaeh about the unexpected outbursts and she confirmed it. She just wanted to be left alone.  
  
"Tyera please, can we talk?"  
  
Tyera quietly sighed, swallowing thickly against a knot in her throat she stood wiping her eyes and walked to the other side of the loft. "About what?"  
  
Nevaeh glanced up at her, giving her a warm smile. "There you are." Her mood became more serious. "How about we talk about why you wouldn't let me heal you and then ran away after."  
  
"Of course you want to talk about that." Thank god for the distance between them, she wouldn't be able to see how red the rims of her eyes were. "It's not worth the time and I didn't run away, I needed air."  
  
"I just hope you're okay."  
  
"Me too." Tyera murmurs before lifting her head. "I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me."  
  
"I know I don't need to, but somehow I want to."  
  
Tyera gave her a funny look, the only person that ever worried about her was her father. "Why would you want to?"  
  
Nevaeh shrugged. "I don't know, I just do."  
  
Tyera sat down at the edge of the loft, feet dangling over the side. "It's a waste of your time and hell of a waste of energy."  
  
"I don't really care, it's not like I'm doing much with my life anyway."  
  
"You could do something with it if you wanted to."  
  
Nevaeh scoffed. "Yeah, if I wanted to get myself killed."  
  
Ouch, that hurt quite a bit. "Excuse me?"  
  
"I can't really do much, cause they'd find me if I did anything where people would easily notice me." Nevaeh sighed.  
  
"I'm not as famous as you think I am. After eight years I'm still working to get myself known just about everywhere. I still self advertise in the paper."  
  
"People read those?"  
  
"Yeah, it's how I get my jobs."  
  
"I thought you got them from the sheriff?"  
  
"They go to the sheriff, he sends someone for me, I take it see if it's worth the time then pack up for a few days and go."  
  
"Hm."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just all very new to me."  
  
"Because you haven't been doing it for eight years, you didn't live in a dangerous town like I did. Bounty hunters came and went when I was a kid, didn't bother me none until." She trailed off, it wasn't a fond memory.  
  
"Until what?"  
  
"Until my mother was killed." She said quickly, getting up and disappearing on the other side of the loft once more.  
  
Nevaeh sighed. "I know how you feel. It's hard sometimes, the hole they leave behind."  
  
"I never got to say goodbye, she was taken too quickly from me."  
  
"Neither did I, I was too busy running."  
  
"I don't want to talk about this anymore."  
  
"It's alright, I understand. Sometimes... it hurts more than usual." Nevaeh sank down onto the floor. "I still dream about them, you know? Almost every night."  
  
"Same here, I never saw what happened just when she was dying."  
  
"I watched them burn my house to the ground, with my parents inside. It's not something you forgot, is it?"  
  
"Or when you see where your mother was shot and the blood stain getting bigger."  
  
Nevaeh nodded. "Yeah." She said quietly.  
  
Tyera took a deep breath, remembering how her mother would tell her to deep breaths whenever she got this upset when she a kid. It always helped and she could feel like she can breathe again.  
  
Nevaeh stood, looking around before finding a potential way up and carefully starting to climb.  
  
Tyera made no effort to move, it wasn't that she didn't care about what Nevaeh was doing she just didn't have the energy.  
  
Nevaeh was very careful before she finally rolled up into the loft. "Oof. That was an adventure."  
  
"Yeah, I'll get around to fixing it at some point. I guess getting up here now is more for the physically active."  
  
"I'm plenty active, I'm just not used to climbing things that aren't meant to be climbed."  
  
"Then I guess it's more meant for those who are fit like myself."  
  
Nevaeh simply laid in the straw. "So, we were having some feelings sharing?"  
  
"Unfortunately."  
  
"You wanna talk about it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You wanna go back to the house?"  
  
"I think I'm going to stay here for awhile longer."  
  
"Then I'll stay too, no sense in sitting alone inside a silent house." Nevaeh sighed, staring at the wooden ceiling.  
  
"Won't be much for conversion."  
  
"That's alright."  
  
Tyera gave a small smile, she was kinda glad Nevaeh wanted to stay. She crossed her legs as she sat back against the wall.  
  
"Does your father ever talk about her?" Nevaeh asked quietly, not too long after.  
  
"Not as much as he used to. I was ten when she died so I have some memories of her. He only talks about her when people ask, which they normally don't."  
  
"Oh." Nevaeh sounded shocked. "You were ten when it happened?"  
  
"Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?"  
  
"I was almost ten when my parents died too. Only a couple months until my birthday."  
  
"My mother died a few weeks after mine."  
  
"Strange."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"The fact that we were both really close in age."  
  
Tyera shrugs. "I suppose."  
  
"Wait, how old are you?"  
  
"Twenty three."  
  
"Hm." Nevaeh thought.  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"Twenty three."  
  
"Huh, okay then."  
  
"Weird. It's almost like someone was planning this." Nevaeh let out a half-hearted chuckle.  
  
"I doubt it, it's just coincidence."  
  
Nevaeh shrugged. "I don't really believe in coincidences, things happen for a reason."  
  
"You think your parents and my mother were killed for a reason?"  
  
"I dunno, it's not always really obvious as to why."  
  
"If my mother being taken from me was part of God's will I don't much appreciate it."  
  
"I never said God. I'm not a Christian anyway."  
  
"That's alright, it was just something that came to mind."  
  
Nevaeh shrugged. "It's just kind of funny, how we just happened to meet and we're the exact same age."  
  
"It is what it is I suppose."  
  
"You ready to go in yet?"  
  
"Yeah, I think I am."  
  
Nevaeh sat up, using her fingers to try and comb as much of the hay out of her raven black hair as possible.  
  
"Yeah those have a tendency to stick to you." Tyera rose to her feet brushing that hay off the back of her pants.  
  
"It's fine, I'll brush it all out eventually. How do you get down?"  
  
"Same way you got up, I've got many ways of getting down."  
  
"Okay then, let's just hope I don't hurt myself this time."


End file.
